Vince Carter

[OMagic1989]

Magic Fan in peace.

Do you guys think he is washed up and his legs shot? He is playing like a certain female body part this year for the most part. I was so excited when we got him and now



Any thoughts from people other than Carter groupies.

Thanks for your time.

[NetsForce]

I wrote this in another thread:

It's puzzling why they can't get things to click, Vince is a vastly superior player than Hedo and he was never a ball stopper here in NJ (accept for when asked to be)...

If I had to guess though part of their problem is that they're trying to play the same exact style they did last year when their personnel is different now.

When Carter was here he was all class, he played through injuries, made the extra pass and always gave it his all.

I don't think he's washed up unlucky injuries are probably hindering his shooting right now (he's shooting a career low from the field), but I think the one mistake the Magic are making is that they aren't running more of the offense through Carter.

And I'm not talking about giving Carter significantly more shot attempts but I mean sometimes you have to put the ball in his hand and just let him create.

Vince will come off screens from time to time and go to work but he plays his best when HE'S creating for others not when others are creating for him.

The only concern I would have with Vince is that he might be trying too hard to fit in, I saw this at times from him last year where he wasn't his normal aggressive self and would defer to Devin Harris though I liked that since Harris is clearly a big part of the Nets future as much as I hate to say it maybe part of the reason for Vince deferring was because he was tired / not able to play the way he's used to playing (due to old age).

...Another thing to consider is that Vince despite his out-of-this-world athleticism is truly a half-court player, even when Kidd was here you'd have Vince out there on the break from time to time but he was always more comfortable when the team wasn't racing up and down the court and break-neck speed... And to that extent I must point out that sometimes it seems like the Magic don't even know what kind of team they want to be on offense... Do they want to run up and down and chuck 3's? Or do they want to try to grind things out with Howard down low?

The only other thing I have to add is that while I think Stan Van Gundy is a good coach I don't think he's done a good job of adjusting to his new personnel.

[vincecarter4pres]

The above post is money.

[VCRJKidd15]

i dont think i even had one problem with carter when he was a net not even a single thought of wanting to trade him i just dont know what is going on in Orlando.

[Aussie 2point0]

Nets force is spot on. One thing I did notice however was when we had vc nearly every year around this time he would drop off. When I say that I meen he went from 25 6 &6 to 19 4 & 4 his % went down. Then he would come to life in march (usually after the all star break) Carry us to play-offs or near enough. So hang in there Omagic judge him after the allstar break. see if i'm right.

BTW would guy's take Battie, Lee and Alston for VC? just a trade i'm workin through on the trade checker. Yeah I didn't think so.

[60cent]

... Or maybe, simply, the chemistry is not there. Sometimes you have to have the right mix of players for them to blend the right way. It's like cooking... Im a decent cook but no matter what i do, even if i have the right ingredients, the same exact ingredients my mother used, i could never pull it through.

It might sound like a simple, shallow thought but it could be a factor.

[Aussie 2point0]

Fair call siddy, but VC, as much as i loved him ( before he joined this team and during) he and RJ were always finding away to say that our team needed to gell and that the play-offs were months away. My come back every time was Magic Bird and MJ never said that. they brought there A game for 82 games!! Not calling VC & RJ out just highlighting the differences between old school and new school. Hopefuly this helps our original poster. Please feel free to disagree.

[jerseyjac]

I also believe Vince never forces his presence upon his team...if you remember when he came to jersey, we had to tell him, go be Vince...but as stated above, Vince plays through injuries we can testify to that...his shooting might be hindered however that wouldnt affect the Magic's team chemistry (not Vince's inability to fit it) which I agree, is more of the issue...Use Vince more, he'll warrant the attention from the defense, that will only help open up shots for everyone on the floor...I dunno how much he is touching the ball and driving for the Magic, but the more the better, especially if you guys are struggling...Vince can WILL your team to victory, but someone may need to tell him "we need that" or "we need you to do more"...thats what happened in jersey and he became the aggressive Raptor he once was, with added dimension of unselfishness...he knew in jersey he didnt always have to do it all, it obvious he doesnt have to to that in Orlando...

Vince just wants to fit in and his worst fear woud be he was "trying to do too much"...